MUMBAI: The leading US thinktank, Rand Corporation, has confirmed what Indian intelligence agencies have been maintaining all along— DawoodIbrahim has graduated to terrorism and is siphoning off millions of dollars earned from film piracy, drug-running and other crimes to finance his operations.

According to sources in the film industry and police, the moment a film is released in Mumbai, the ‘D-Company’ makes camera prints and sends them to Karachi or Kuala Lumpur where millions of DVDs are made and marketed across the world. But after the Mumbai-based Valuable Group introduced satellite transmission of films directly to cinema halls, it has become difficult for the gang to make camera prints as each cinema hall has a secret identity number encrypted into the movie. To avoid this, gang members have established links with small-time theatres in Gujarat where the camera prints are taken at the first show of any new film.

The gang also receives advance prints of the films financed by it through front companies. “Contrary to general impression, the D-Company is still active in Bollywood,” a film producer says.

“Dawood is India’s godfather of godfathers who runs criminal gangs from Bangkok to Dubai. His gang syndicate, called D-Company, engages in strong-arm protection, drug trafficking, extortion and murder-for-hire,” the Rand report says.

It says that film piracy can be more paying than drug-trafficking. The report says a pirated DVD made in Malaysia for 70 cents is marked up more than 1,000% and sold in London for about $9. “The profit margin is more than three times higher than the mark-up for Iranian heroin and higher than the profit from Columbian cocaine,” the report says.

Identifying Al-Mansoor and Sadaf brands belonging to Dawood, the report says he has acquired extraordinary market power in the distribution of pirated films throughout the region. The report says the D-Company has got control of Sadaf Trading Company based in Karachi, and thus allowing it to manage distribution network in Pakistan and also acquiring the infrastructure to manufacture pirate VHS tapes and VCDs for sale.

December 07, 2007 19:10 ISTIn a new twist to the ongoing spat between Malaysian authorities and agitating ethnic Indians, the government has accused protesters of seeking help from “terrorists and local gangsters” including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a charge the campaigners said was an attempt to put them in jail under an archaic internal security law.Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said recent investigations have revealed that the campaign group, Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), “has been actively canvassing for support and assistance from terrorist groups”.The links were discovered following intense police investigations in the past six months into Hindraf’s activities, reports said.

Repression of Malaysian Hindus unacceptable: Anwar Ibrahim From The Hindu

Mumbai (PTI): Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, on Saturday condemned Kuala Lumpur’s crackdown on protests by ethnic Hindu citizens last week describing it as “unacceptable”.Talking to the media at the Islamic Peace Conference here, Ibrahim also defended reactions in India, saying that “every country has a right to express its views diplomatically.”“In this age, you can’t say that any repression should not be condemned because its country’s internal affair…to say `lay off’ does not work…,” Ibrahim said while referring to the remarks by Malaysian Minister Nazri Aziz against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi who had raised concerns over the “marginalisation” of ethnic Indians in that country.“Malaysia supports Palestinians…what if Israelis says `lay off’?” he asked.

From The Hindu Newspaper for a complete piece of the news Click hereMalaysian PM hits back12/2/2007 8:48:46 PM

Malaysia hits back, tells India not to interfereMalaysia has told India not to meddle in its internal affairs after New Delhi expressed concerns over the treatment of ethnic Indians in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government would deal with citizens according to its own laws and no other country should interfere.

On November 30, more than 10,000 Malaysian Indians staged the community’s biggest anti-government protest, sparked by anger over policies they say prevent them from getting decent jobs or a good education for their children. Police used tear gas and water canons to disperse the protesters, many of them Tamils with their roots in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, sparking outrage and demands from Tamil politicians that New Delhi intervene.

“If they break any law, it is our right to deal with them in accordance with Malaysian laws,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying. India said that it was concerned about the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia and had taken up with Kuala Lumpur accusations that protesters from the community had been harassed. “The government remains deeply solicitous for the welfare of people of Indian origin living abroad,” Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Parliament.

Submitted by Mudassir Rizwan on Thu, 12/06/2007 – 06:47.Indian MuslimIndia NewsBy IANSKuala Lumpur : Malaysia’s parliamentary opposition has urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi to head a task force to study problems facing ethnic Indians, citing a fall in the number of government jobs they hold.

The demand came on Wednesday even as a lawmaker belonging to the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition, disapproved of use of force by the police against a rally of Tamils on November 25.Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who represents Ipoh Timur in parliament, told the media in the parliament lobby that the cabinet should set up a special task force headed by the Prime Minister to resolve the problems faced by the Indians, The Star newspaper said.“The cabinet should come out with a new policy for a new deal to end this,” he said.“The number of Indians in the civil service has also plunged in the past 34 years, from 17.4 percent in 1971 to 5.12 percent in 2005,” he added.

It’s rally season in Kuala Lumpur. Last month, around 40,000 opposition parties, trade unions and non-governmental organizations braved thunderstorms and roadblocks to demand clean and fair elections. Two weeks ago, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) demonstrated, demanding fair treatment for Malaysian Indians. A fracas broke out and some 200 people were arrested.These rallies are clearly not for the faint-hearted, as each one has been preceded by stern statements from the government, which included warnings about invoking the Internal Security Act. But they have a deeper import, beyond the threat of jail: These protests indicate a tectonic shift in …….. For a complete article subscribe here

“Malaysian Indians have never gathered in such large numbers in this way…,” said organiser P. Uthaya Kumar of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). “They are frustrated and have no job opportunities in the government or the private sector. They are not given business licences or places in university,” he said, adding that Indians were also incensed by some recent demolitions of Hindu temples.

Malaysian media told to self-censor reports on ethnic Indian crackdown

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia’s government has told the mainstream media not to sensationalize a crackdown on ethnic Indians following an unprecedented rally against racial discrimination in Muslim-majority Malaysia, officials said.Che Din Yusoh, a senior official with the Internal Security Ministry, said newspaper editors had been given “verbal advice” not to highlight sensitive issues related to the Nov. 25 rally by at least 20,000 ethnic Indians that police broke up by force.

“Don’t sensationalize what police are doing. Don’t give a very negative picture … We have guidelines on publication, and they have to implement (self) censorship,” he told The Associated Press late Wednesday.

Malaysiakini, an independent Internet news portal, reported Wednesday that top editors of all dailies were summoned by the government for a meeting, and were told not to give prominence to Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, the group that is leading the Indian unrest.An editor of a Tamil-language daily, catering to Indians, confirmed the meeting took place Tuesday. He told the AP that the government advised all chief editors to be “very careful” about “sharp wordings,” especially in headlines. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.